“They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there –the man who had had the legion in him- properly dressed and in his full senses, and they were afraid.”

Thursday 10 December 2015

2 S 15,13-30 Ps.3 Mk.5,1-20

Monday 4th week, even numbered year

“A man with an unclean spirit at once came from the tombs towards him.”

"They reached the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and when he disembarked, a man with an unclean spirit at once came out from the tombs towards him.The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him anymore, even with a chain, because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. All night and day, amongst the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, ’What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? In God’s name, do not torture me!’

This Gospel shows us something of the inner sufferings of humanity, this feeling turned into uneasiness, with the pain that surrounds it : in today’s world these victims are still around! ’I’m bad, if only you knew how bad and ugly I am! Can I tell you just how bad I am? Could you hear it?’ So many of our young people today speak in this way or ways similar to this. We can, in Jesus, hear it ; it is possible. This man is there before Jesus, forming one with the part of his being given over to the ’devil’.

“For Jesus had been saying to him, ’Come out of this man, unclean spirit.’ Then he asked, ’What is your name?’ He answered ’My name is Legion for there are many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district.”

This mystery of human suffering is spread throughout the world and we can be plunged into it. Here is the extreme human suffering at work in a man’s life, the ’mystery of iniquity’, as the apostle Paul calls it. Everything that can be inflicted on humanity through the nastiness and perfidy of the liar and men is altogether intolerable!

Jesus, the Saviour of the world came to set us free from this. It is the cup of curse that Jesus will absorb in his agony and in His Passion! In his Heart of God,

Jesus will have a cup of blessing rise up from it : Christ’s Blood that purifies and pacifies us.

“They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there-the man who had had the legion in him- properly dressed and in his full senses, and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it were reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs.Then they began to implore Jesu to leave their neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let him, but said to him, ’Go home to tour people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.” So the man went off and proceeded to proclaim in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed."

Still today, it is in the celebration of the Eucharist that all the suffering in the world ends up on the altar of the Cross. With Jesus, in Him and through Him, a Light arises in the hearts of those who are tormented in this manner. Christ is going to allow this man to become more peaceful, properly dressed, sitting there, in his full senses once more.

We ask for the grace to dwell so strongly in Jesus so that still today He can do his work of healing through us.